StarMerchant

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Friday, September 12th, 2008 | Programs

For more including Author's Notes download the eBook pages with this program's code listing.

In the early 26th century the 50XFTL drive was developed and the stars became open to mankind. Warping space and propelling starships 50 times faster than light mankind left their crowded solar system for the frontier of space. By the mid 29th century giant space stations called starports existed at 10 of the most densely populated star systems. These starports provided fuel and services for starships as well as acting as a trade center for the solar system. Each starport was given a classification which has less to do with what would be available and more to do with the prices you can generally expect. Unexpected events can cause unpredictable price changes leading to unexpected profit for you.

Star Merchant is a futuristic trading simulation. As you travel to star systems pay attention to the percentage column (%). This shows what percentage of the market rate the price is set at for that particular item at that starport at that instance, 100% being the going market rate for that particular cargo as set by the Interstellar Trade Commission. The 100% rate for each cargo is defined in cargo.h. Using this can help you buy low and sell high, which is the name of the game.

When you travel be sure to keep some money in your account for expenses like docking fees, fuel, and your crew salary. If you can’t afford your expenses upon your arrival your inability to afford the docking fees will cause your ship to be confiscated, your crew to be let go, and your cargo sold to cover the exorbitant cost of your legal fees and you will spend the rest of your life stuck on the starport flipping soy patties. At the end of 2 years the lease on your ship comes due. If you don’t have 2 million in the bank by then they’ll repossess your starship, too.

Star Merchant has multiple source files that will all need to be included, so be sure to pay attention to the file names as you’re typing.

When the original game was published there were described a number of features that were not implemented in the final game. This version stays true to the original game, but it does leave a number of possibilities for expansion. For instance:

• At random space pirates will warp directly into your cargo holds and steal 10% of your cargo.
• The mass that you’re carrying should affect the time to destination, thus affecting the cost of traveling.
• Expand the upgrade system to be more piecemeal so you can upgrade the engines but downgrade your cargo holds (preferable later in the game).
• As it currently stands there is no winning condition. The game should be modified so that win you reach a certain amount of money ($1,000,000,000 perhaps) you buy your own fleet of ships and retire a wealthy mogul or if you choose not to renew your lease and ending is displayed depending on how rich you become.

There are no end of other modifications that can be made to this game with just a little imagination.

Star Merchant was written by Devin Watson, inspired by a BASIC game by the same name by Lloyd Johnson as found in Big Computer Games edited by David H. Ahl © 1984.

Tags: BASIC, conversion, curses, Devin Watson, Illustrated, zip

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